Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM)'s Vice Chairman for Mainland Tanzania, Stephen Wasira, has underscored the inseparable link between peace and justice, emphasizing that CCM will continue championing peace as a pathway to ensuring justice for all citizens.
Speaking at a public rally in Dodoma yesterday as he concluded his tour of Tabora Region, Wasira addressed critics who accuse CCM of focusing more on peace than justice, saying such arguments often come from those who misunderstand the Party’s values.
“Some people ask why we speak so much about peace and not enough about justice. But they fail to understand that within peace, there is justice,” he said.
“I came to Tabora a place where the Father of the Nation, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, once shed tears for peace to help people realize that when peace is lost, it is the poor and vulnerable who suffer most.”
Wasira warned that when peace collapses, women and children are the first to be affected often forced to flee their homes in search of safety.
“When peace is broken in neighboring countries, their citizens flee to places like Tabora. So, when we defend peace, we’re also defending justice the rights of the weak and the voiceless,” he said.
He criticized those who use the idea of justice to push personal ambitions, such as changing the constitution to ascend to power, while ignoring the rights and interests of the broader population.
“Someone says he wants to become president, and claims that changing the constitution will give him that chance. But that’s not justice for all that’s justice for one person. True justice reflects the will and welfare of the majority,” Wasira explained.
He cautioned against attempts to incite unrest, reminding citizens that in countries where peace has collapsed, the rights of the majority have been eroded. He questioned where Tanzanians would go if the peace they enjoy were to fall apart.
“They fled their own countries to seek peace here and now some of us want to go where they came from? You’d be crossing paths like ants. This is why we insist that justice must be pursued through peaceful means,” he said.
Wasira reiterated that Tanzania’s Constitution provides mechanisms for resolving grievances, noting that the judiciary is the rightful institution to interpret laws and protect human rights.
“If you believe your rights have been violated, take your case to court and be heard. That’s how you preserve peace and obtain justice through lawful means,” he said.
He strongly condemned threats of violence or rebellion, calling out those who openly speak of causing chaos or destroying the country.
“Who gave you the license to burn Tanzania? Under whose authority? Those who seek to use force are not fighting for justice they are infringing on the rights of ordinary Tanzanians,” he said.
He warned that such instability could harm essential services like maternal and child healthcare, which the government has invested in heavily.
“You want to create destruction that forces women to flee from clinics clinics we have built for them and have them bombed? We cannot and will not allow that,” he stressed.
Wasira said he chose to deliver this message from Tabora the birthplace of Tanzania’s peace movement to remind citizens that the peace won through the sacrifices of leaders like Nyerere must be protected at all costs.
“We will not allow a handful of individuals or groups backed by neocolonial interests to disrupt our national peace. We stand firm: where there is peace, there is justice,” he declared.
